social service

noun

plural social services

: a program or effort designed to promote human or societal well-being

specifically : organized help for people who are in need of assistance with basic needs (such as food, housing, safety, or job training) or with medical needs (such as addiction or mental illness)

—usually plural

Most states are struggling with skimpy resources and a system of uncoordinated social services that is totally inadequate to serve a population of individuals whose needs are bottomless.

—Constance Holden

… attacked the idea of social services, claiming that the only entity entitled to provide care is the church, not the government.

—Tori Otten

—often used before another noun

social service agencies

Until the bridge's closure, the island hosted and supported social service programs including homeless shelters and an addiction recovery campus.

—Ellie Wolfe

Examples of social service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The hotline offers crisis intervention, information, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service, and support resources. —Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 17 July 2025

Child, Family and Adult Services, the county’s social services department helping with adoption, foster care and support for elderly people and people with disabilities. —Mary Ramsey july 16, Charlotte Observer, 16 July 2025

So if the spending cap blocked more funding, for example, for social services, federal grants picked up the slack. —Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 16 July 2025

Santa Clara County receives more than $275 million in grant funding annually from HHS, with two-thirds of that going to the county’s social services agency to support child abuse prevention initiatives, foster young programs, adoption services and programs for seniors and those with disabilities. —Grace Hase, Mercury News, 16 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for social service

• interservice
• disservice
• preservice
• nervous
• nervus